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We are just a week into 2014 and I have seen multiple news outlets and television shows talk about what food prices will look like in the coming year. We in the agricultural community talk food prices all the time. We are constantly following the market and clearly understand what drives the price of the food we eat. How much rain did corn crops get? How are herd numbers? What’s the weather been like in South America? And their are many other factors.

But, today I realized that the general public has no clue what truly drives the prices of their milk, bread, eggs and steak. They can make guesses, but it seems little thought is put into why they pay what they pay. I had the Rachael Ray Show on today and a segment called Financial Food Planning caught my attention. They surveyed the audience comparing two items and asked them which they thought would go up in price in the coming year. Many audience members were right and others way off. The question that keeps nagging me is do they know why they were right or wrong.

LearnVest.com CEO and Financially Fearless author Alexa Von Tobel explains to Rachael and co-host Bill Bellamy which foods will cost you more money in the new year.

In the segment Alexa does a good job explaining in a second or less why one item might be more in 2014 than another. I only wish she could have spent at least 5 minutes explaining to the studio audience as well as, viewers at home.

My mother-in-law gives calendar for Christmas each year. This year mine had a Garfield theme and after the cute comic strip you can flip it over for a Daily Extra. Today I flipped it over and it just happened to be titled: 100 Years Ago…Food Prices in 1914 Chicago.

Milk: 9 cents per quart

Eggs: 35 cents per dozen

Bacon: 28 cents per pound

Potatoes: 18 cents per pound

Sirloin Steak: 26 cents per pound

For the most part, 100 years ago the price of food was determined the same way it is now. Did people know then? I guess that is why I am rambling on about food prices today. Do you think about why you pay what you pay at the grocery store or at the pump? If you do, do you think your neighbor does? Does it even matter if anyone knows why the price of milk, eggs, bacon, potatoes or steak is what it is?

As a beef producer I am naturally a beef lover. I love to eat it and I love advocating for it. Last week I attended the Missouri Cattlemen’s Convention and I loved being surrounded by fellow Missouri beef producers who had the same passion as I do. During the convention I spent a lot of time with the Missouri Beef Industry Council crew and couldn’t help but absorb their wealth of beef nutrition information. Today, I want to share with you a few things I learned about how eating lean beef daily can help lower cholesterol and should be part of your heart-healthy diet.

A 3oz. serving of lean beef contributes less than 10% of calories to a 2,000 calorie diet, yet supplies more than 10% of the daily value for 10 essential nutrients:

Protein 48%

Selenium 41%

B12 37%

Zinc 33%

Niacin 25%

B6 20%

Phosphorus 19%

Choline 17%

Iron 12%

Riboflavin 10%

BOLD – Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet, is a clinical study conducted a Penn State University that evaluated adults with moderately elevated cholesterol levels. They measured the impact of diets including varying amounts of lean beef on total and LDL cholesterol levels. Participants had a 10% decrease in LDL.

The BOLD diet included 4.0 oz. of lean beef per day. Here is an example of what you could eat on BOLD.

Breakfast: Egg w/ red pepper and onion (1 Tbsp. Each)

Low-Fat cheddar (1/4 cup)

Whole wheat bagel (1 small)

Margarine (2 tsp.)

Lunch: Sirloin w/ Sugar Snap Peas & Pasta Salad w/ light dressing

Apple(1 med.)

Dinner: Beef, Mango & Barley Salad (1 1/4 cup salad w. 3 oz. beef)

Dinner Roll (1 small)

Margarine (2 tsp.)

Snacks: Nonfat yogurt (6 oz.)

Low-fat granola (1/4 cup)

Almonds (1 1/2 Tbsp/)

There are 29 cuts of beef that meet governmental guidelines for being lean. Download the 29 lean cuts wallet card for an easy reference. Look for for these naturally nutrient-rich lean beef cuts:

Since 9am this morning I have been glued to my computer screen as I watched the Food Dialogues streamed live from New York City. What are the Food Dialogues you might asked? Well, they were started by the US Farmers & Ranchers Alliance, (USFRA) “is a newly formed alliance consisting of a wide range of prominent farmer- and rancher-led organizations and agricultural partners. This marks the first time agricultural groups at the national, regional and state levels have collaborated to lead the dialogue and answer Americans’ questions about how we raise our food – while being stewards of the environment, responsibly caring for our animals and maintaining strong businesses and communities.”

Today’s conversation consisted of dialogue on: Media, Marketing & Healthy Choices – Antibiotics & Your Food – Biotechnology (GMO) & Your Food. So, why is it so important for us to be talking about these hot topics floating around the agriculture industry? Because farmers and ranchers aren’t the only ones talking about them. Consumers across the country are asking questions. It is our job as agriculturalist to answer them. If we don’t tell our story then others tell it for us and it may not be the story that should be told.

Farmers and ranchers across the world farm differently. They use technology differently. What is feasible for me, may not be feasible for my neighbor or for a farmer across the country. The fight should not be against conventional farming vs. organic/natural farming methods. We need to educate consumers about the food they are eating and remember we are on the same team. Team Ag!

Even though I was born and raised in the world of agriculture, I learned a lot of new information today about these issues. It will help me answer questions people have about the ever changing world of technology in agriculture. I have been even more motivated to share my story of farming. I challenge you to do the same. Maybe blogging isn’t for you. Then take pictures and use social media to help explain why you are passionate about agriculture.

If you missed this Food Dialogue, don’t worry there will be more. Check out what people said online by using #FoodD on Twitter. You can also check out AgWired‘s photos of the event. Now that I have spent my entire day following the dialogue and live tweeting, I now need to play catch up on all the other things I need to get do.

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Corn on the cob is good year round, but you can’t beat garden, fresh sweet corn on the cob in the summertime. I just came across this on Pinterest and immediately thought of my great grandma. I have many fond memories from time spent in the hills with my great grandparents and I vividly remember picking sweet corn in multiple great grandmas’ gardens.

The memory that put a smile on my face when I saw the picture of this gizmo was when I was a little girl. My great grandpa, like many great grandpas, had false teeth. This created a difficulty when eating corn on the cob. My great grandma would manually cut off the corn from the cob so he could eat it. I thought that was the coolest thing ever and insisted that I have my corn served the same way. Laughing my grandma would carefully cut the corn from the cob for me.

I was fortunate to never have braces so the chore of physically cutting corn off the cob has never been an issue with me. And I hope I have taken good care of my teeth over the years to never have to have false teeth. But I do believe my great grandma would have been the first to invest in this Corn Kerneller.

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I found this flautas recipe on Pinterest, but like most things I cook, I changed it a little based on what I had in my fridge and pantry. The original recipe can be found at Healthy. Delicious. This recipe caught my eye because the flautas are baked not fried. It is a great healthy recipe for the whole family.

Below you will find the original recipe in black and my additions/substitutions in green.

Baked Flautas

Yields 10 flautas
Prep Time: 15 minutes; Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs (about 4)

16 ounces Beer

2 cups Water

1 teaspoon Paprika – I did not have this so I just skipped it.

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt – My salt was not Kosher…haha!

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder – I doubled the garlic because you can never have too much.

1 teaspoon ground Cumin

1 teaspoon Chili Powder

1 Jalapeño Pepper, minced –I used a can of green chillies because I did not have a Jalapeño.

1 Medium White Onion

3 cups Baby Spinach, chopped

5 burrito-size Flour Tortillas (9 inches)

6 ounces Queso Quesadilla or other melting cheese, shredded

1 tablespoon Olive Oil, or cooking spray

Salsa, for serving

Guacamole, for serving

Sour Cream, for serving

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 450*F.

Put the chicken thighs in a deep sided saute pan and cover with the beer and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the liquid and shred it. Mix together the chicken and seasonings.

Pour out all but 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the jalapeño and spinach and cook over low heat until for 2-3 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted. I sautéed the onions and chillies in this cooking liquid. I then added the chicken and seasoning to this mixture and let simmer.

Cut the tortillas in half. Spoon 1/10th of the chicken (about 1 tablespoon) along the long edge of a tortilla. Repeat with the spinach and cheese. Roll the tortilla up, starting with the straight edge. Place seam-side down on an oiled baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Brush the flautas with olive oil or spray with cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn them over and bake for until 10 minutes, or until crispy. Serve with salsa.

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Who doesn’t like honey? I for one am a honey lover. Sunday dinners aren’t complete without biscuits fresh from the oven and a dollop of honey. Recently my grandpa brought home some fresh local honey a neighbor had given him. It was rich, pure and my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

I recently came across a writing from my great grandma about honey and thought I would share it with you in honor of Sunday biscuits and honey. Remember it is unedited and depicts her original work.

Honey

Bacteria cannot live in the presence of honey. It is a excellent source of potassium.

The pollen of many flower’s has a higher vitamin C content than most any fruit or vegetable. Honey contains pollen.

Honey is packed with the things the body needs to build and rebuild itself. It gives quick energy release. It is a good breakfast food. It act as a sedative it kelp to calm the nerves, it does no harm only good to the human body. It will produce sleep at night, relieve pain in arthritis soothing to the stomach, it has a laxative action and will kelp relieve a cough. Most babies on cow milk has syrup in it, most difficulty for babies is the sweetening again honey is the one to use, babies fed on honey rarely have colic.

Use Honey to Sleep, Cough Remedy

Boil a lemon 10 minutes so you get more juice, put juice in a ordinary drinking glass, add 2 tablespoons of glycerine, stir juice any glyerine will fill glass up with honey. Stir before taking it. One teaspoon when needed.

Honey for Burn’s

It relieves pain, and prevents blisters and produce rapid healing. A tablespoon of honey at bed time sooth the nerves and keeps from bed-wetting.

If you took The Food List Challenge, I will assume there were a few items on the list that left you trying to guess what they actually were. I will humbly admit there were many I had never heard of and others that once I Googled weren’t all that unusual.

Maybe others can also learn from my quick definition of a few of the foods that left me perplexed.

Which ones have you tried and which ones were you favorite?

Abalone – Is a common name for any group of small to very large edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Hallotidae. They are commonly farmed in China, Taiwan, Japan & Korea. But also right here in the United States.

Absinthe – Is described as a distilled, highly alcoholic (90-148 proof) beverage. It is commonly mistaken as a liqueur, but is not traditionally bottled with added sugar. That classifies it as a spirit. Absinthe is typically diluted with water before drinking.

Baba Ghanoush – Is a Levantine dish of eggplant mashed and mixed with virgin olive oil and various seasonings. This is often eaten as a dip with khubz or pita bread. Baba Ghanoush is popular in Levant, Kurdistan and Egypt. I found a recipe for Baba Ghanoush on one of my favorite bloggers websites…The Pioneer Woman.

Bagel and Lox – We all know what a bagel is, but what is lox? It is a salmon fillet that has been cured. Typically thinly sliced, served on a bagel with cream cheese, onion, tomato, cucumber and capers.

Baklava – Is a rich sweet pastry made of layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup or honey. Baklava seems to be a desert version of lasagna.

Bird’s Nest Soup – Is a delicacy in Chinese cuisine. A few species of swift (a kind of bird) are renowned for building the solidified saliva nests used to produce the unique texture of this soup.

Black Pudding – Otherwise known as blood pudding or blood sausage is a type of sausage made from cooking blood or dried blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled. Pig, cattle, sheep, duck and goat blood can be used depending on the country.

Borscht – Is a soup of Ukrainian origin that is popular in European countries. It is made with beetroot, giving it a deep red-purple color. The two main variants of borscht are hot and cold, both based on beets, but otherwise prepared and served differently.

Chicken Tikka Masala – Is a South Asian curry dish of roasted chicken chunks in a spicy sauce. The sauce is creamy, spiced and orange in color. It has become popular in Britian and commonly called “a true British national dish.”

Chitlins – Are the intestines of a pig, that have been prepared as food. They can be fried or steamed and in the United States are a Southern culinary tradition sometimes called “soul food.”

Churros – Otherwise referred to as a Spanish doughnut, is a fried-dough pastry-based snack. They are normally eaten for breakfast and dipped in hot chocolate or café con leche.

Currywurst – Originated in Germany and consists of steamed pork sausage cut into slices and seasoned with warm curry ketchup. It is often served as a take-out food, at diners or as street food.

Well, that is A through C of the 100 unusual foods you should try before you die that I could not identify and thought needed some further evaluation. Stay tuned for more.

I got my information from Wikipedia, so if anyone would like to correct or add to my brief descriptions, please feel free to do so.